UFC on FUEL TV 8 results: Kazuki Tokudome stifles Cristiano Marcello

SAITAMA, Japan – Kazuki Tokudome showed no fear of going to the ground with fourth-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Cristiano Marcello, and it paid off for him.

Tokudome survived Marcello’s biggest strikes on the feet, and when he was on top on the ground, he worked a smothering bit of ground-and-pound to score points on his way to a unanimous decision sweep of the scorecards in his UFC debut in front of his home country fans.

The lightweight bout was part of the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC on FUEL TV 8 event at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. It streamed on Facebook ahead of a main card on FUEL TV.

Marcello, a veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter Live,” landed a good knee early, and Tokudome landed some shots of his own when he clinched things up in defense. But it was Marcello bringing big right hands into the center of the octagon – though Tokudome was able to withstand the initial flurry and then subsequent right hands. Marcello slipped on a high kick, and Tokudome moved in to try to take advantage – though he was moving into the black belt’s world on the ground.

Tokudome tried to land ground-and-pound, but Marcello played good defense off his back – though he did eat a handful of punches. Marcello worked on a leg lock, but Tokudome recovered and finished the round on top.

Marcello fired off a big flurry that backed Tokudome early in the second, but it was Tokudome who drilled a takedown. Tokudome continued to score from on top in Marcello’s guard, landing good left hands. But at the 1:45 mark, referee Thomas Fan stood the two up despite Tokudome doing work on the top. Back on the feet, Marcello again came forward with a fast flurry, then landed a takedown of his own. But he couldn’t do anything with it before Tokudome was back to his feet. The two slugged wildly to close out the second before slapping high five on the way back to their corners.

A big right hand from Tokudome dropped Marcello in the third, and he moved in to land big ground-and-pound. Marcello survived, but he was back where he had struggled the first two rounds – on his back unable to get out from under Tokudome. Marcello got back to his feet with three minutes left and tried to find a home for his right hand. When it landed, though, Tokudome seemed to bounce right back from it. With a minute left, Tokudome again landed a good takedown to put an exclamation point on a strong performance in his debut.

Tokudome (12-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) picked up his third straight win and has won seven of his past eight. Marcello (13-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) heads back to the loss column after a split-decision victory over Reza Madadi this past October.

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